Improvement in backgammon-boards



ite.

N. BANGs--Wl-LLIAMs,

or NEW YORIQN. Y.

. Letters Patent No. 87,895, dated March 16,1869.

IIMPRCVELEENT IN BACKG'mEON-BCARDS.

n. semana zetema to in instemmen Patent ana mung pan of the um.

To all whom it lui/y concern.:

Be it lknown that I, N. sims wnarms, of the city, county, and -State of New York, have madev certain Improvements-in Backgammon-Boards; and in order that'otbers may understand the nature of my invention, I give the following description of the same, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, aud referred to in these specications, by, the letters and figures marked thereon.'

The object of my invention is to provide means for throwing or agitating the dice, and producing the changes and combination of the spots thereon, by means of an instrument attached to the leaf of each compartment of the board, so that each player, by simply moving a finger-piece, or lever, can change the dice with greater facility, and withdnt the disagreeable noise and rattling which attend this part of the game when the ordinary dice-box and dice are used.

Another part of my invention relates to the construction ofthe instrument itself, whereby the positions of the dice are most positively and eiiectually changed, and the motion of the mechanism readily stopped, to note the result, and this without shock or undue wearing of the parts, or a liability of their so locking, or bringing up, as to make a repetition of manipulation necessary in producing the successive throws, or plays of the dice. v

Description of Drawings. Figure 1 is atop view of a backgammon-board, opened l for play.

A A are the two leaves of the board.

B B are the instruments for making thethrows, or plays of the dice. l

O O are two levers, or nger-pieces, forproducing the movement. These project through the edges of the board, or' may be placed in any other convenient position inside.

This figure merely gives the position of the instruments, Without any details, these being shown in figs. 2 and-3. A

Figure 2 is a top view of the instrument, detached, the parts being represented suiciently cut away to disclose the mechanism.

B B is a box, made of any suitable material, which is firmly secured to the leaves of the board in any convenient manner, the depth of the same being seen in ii 3.

g nside this box is a wheel, or disk, D, hung in the same manner asthe card of a mariners compass, upon the hollow centre F, and raised far enough above the bottom ofthe box B B to allow room4 for the ratchetwheel E (which is aiixed to the under side ofthe disk D) to run freely, and also to give room for theflever 0 and the spring I. l

The lever 0, which gives rotation to the disk by locking into'the ratchet-wheel, it will be perceived, does not terminate at this end as a simple pawl, and does not touch the wheel in its back and forward movement at all, but is provided with a leather spring, H, aiiixed to one side of the lever, and projecting beyond it enough to lock into the -teeth of the ratchet-wheel, so that when the lever is drawn back, this spring will yield, and allow the lever to move without any obstruction, evenwifthe teeth of the yrheel should notbe in position to allow it to enter between them. In this case,

the disk will receive an impulse, and turn in a contrary direction from that which takes place when the lever is released from the iinger, and left to the action of the spring I; and not only does this peculiar construction of thelever rotate the disk iu both directions, but allows it to be stopped without shock or wearing of the parts, by simply drawing the leven a little way back-,-

till the feather-spring H touches the ends of the teeth. This method 'of construction allows the impulse to the wheel to be continued through a larger space than can be done with a simple pawl, because when this is used, the end of the pawl cannot lock deeply without a continual liability to lock, or bring up, on retracting the lever consequently the smallest amount of wear, either of the teeth or pawl, causes the instrument to be inoperative. n

L L are the dice, which' lie upon the upper surface of the revolving disk D.

J J is an inclined toothedrim, which ts inside the box, or case B B, and projects over the edge of the revolving disk, the upper row of dotted lines showing the edge of the disk?. y

The inclination of the toothed rim is shown in g. 3, at J 'J. v The dice are thrown, by the rotation of the disk, into the teeth of the rims J J, and are thus more eiectually changed, as Vto their positions, than they would otherwise be.

c is the pin, upon which the lever O turns as far in f either direction as is allowed by the stop-pins c c.

It should be mentioned that the box B is slotted, or cut away, so asl to allow the vibratory movement of the lever. Y

The whole of the mechanism is covered (as also the dice) by the glass K K, which is seen in g..3.

G, in iig. 3, is' the pivot upon which the ratchetwheel and disk turn.

The other parts of this figure are referred to by the same letters as in iig. 2, and require no further notice here,

Figure 3 being merely, a sectional view of the parts given in top view in fig. 2.

I am aware that automatic devices for throwing, or changing dice, detached from a board, have long been known, one of which consists of cylindrical dies, turning on. a pivot, and impelled by a ratchet-wheel and pawl.

Another, (a French invention,) displays the dice upon 2. The lever C, with the feather-spring'H. a flat disk,with ratohetwheel, simple pawl, spring, 'and 3. This, in combination with the other parts of the toothed rim, same as I have shown. Therefore I do not .mechanism described, all made and operating substan-f claim either of these particular parts, nor an automatic tially as described, or their mechanical equivalents. dice-thrower as a whole; but

What I do claim, is-

1. The combination of anv automatic dice-thrower with aA backgammon-board.

-N. BAN GS WILLIAMS.` Witnesses:

GEO. J. CLARKE, WILLIAM A. HoUeHToN. 

